MECE3320

MeasurementsandInstrumentationLab
Lab-6:DynamicResponseofTemperature
MeasuringDevices

1. Introduction
Thermocouples
When a pair of electrical conductors (metals) are joined together, a thermal emf is
generated when the junctions are at different temperatures. This phenomenon is known
as the Seebeck effect. Such a device is called a thermocouple. The resultant emf
developed by the thermocouple is in the millivolt range when the temperature difference
between the junctions is ~ 100
0
C. To determine

Figure 1 - Measuring the EMF of a Thermocouple
the emf of a thermocouple as a function of the temperature, one junction is maintained at
some constant reference temperature, such as ice-water mixture at a temperature of 0
0
C. The thermal emf, which can be measured by a digital voltmeter as shown in Figure
1, is proportional to the temperature difference between the two junctions. To calibrate
such thermocouple the temperature of the second junction can be varied using a
constant temperature bath and the emf recorded as a function of the temperature
difference between the two nodes.
The output voltage, E, of such a simple thermocouple circuit is usually written in the
form,
3 2
3
1
2
1
CT BT AT E + + = (1)
where T is the temperature in
0
C, and E is based on a reference junction temperature of
0
0
C. The constants A, B and C are dependent on the thermocouple material.
Providing a fixed reference temperature for the reference junction using an ice bath can
make the use of a thermocouple cumbersome. Hence, commercially available
thermocouples usually consist of two leads terminating in a single junction. The leads
are connected to a thermocouple signal conditioning box containing an electrical circuit
which provides a reference voltage equal to that produce by a reference junction placed
at 0
0
C, a process called ice point compensation. These thermocouple signal
conditioners or power supplies usually display the temperature directly and or provide a
voltage output that is proportional to the thermocouple temperature. A similar
thermocouple signal conditioner with a digital temperature display and an analog voltage
output is used in the present experiment.
Thermistors
The thermistor, a thermally sensitive resistor, is a solid semiconducting material. Unlike
metals, thermistors respond inversely to temperature, i.e., their resistance decreases as
the temperature increases. The thermistors are usually composed of oxides of
manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and several other nonmetals. The resistance is
generally an exponential function of the temperature, as shown in Equation 2:
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
0 0
1 1
ln
T T R
R
| (2)
where R
0
is the resistance at a reference temperature, T
0
, while | is a constant,
characteristic of the material. T
0
, the reference temperature, is generally taken as 298 K
(25
0
C). Since all measurements made with thermistors can be reduced to detecting the
resistance changes, the thermistor must be placed in a circuit and the resistance
changes recorded in terms of the corresponding voltage or current changes. The
formula relating the voltage (or current) changes to the resistance changes for a given
circuit has to be determined theoretically or empirically, or by a combination of both.
In the design of thermistor circuits, one must take the precaution that within the range of
the operating conditions; the circuit remains stable at all times. Thermistor resistance
varies inversely with temperature. The voltage applied directly across a thermistor
causes its temperature to rise, and its resistance to decrease. Sufficiently high voltage
may cause thermal "runaway" (curve A in Figure 2), in which condition, higher currents
and temperatures are induced until the thermistor


Figure 2 - Thermistor Behavior and Thermal Runaway
fails, or the power is reduced. A series resistor, introduced to limit current, ensures
stability (curve B). Thermal "runaway" will, in all probability, permanently damage the
thermistor, or change its characteristic properties.
To increase the precision of the measurement, one should add a voltage divider to the
circuit shown in Figure 3(a). This will convert it to a Wheatstone bridge circuit, as shown
in Figure 3(b). The out-of-balance voltage, AV, can then be measured and related to the
resistance of the thermistor. A correct choice of resistors R
2
and R
3
will remove the
mean DC value of AV. Note that although the bridge circuit can increase the precision of
the readings, the sensitivity is still the same as for the simple voltage divider circuit
shown in Figure 3(a). The simple DC bridge circuit of Figure 3(b) is generally
satisfactory for most applications.




Figure 3 - Thermistor Circuit

Considering this circuit, we now derive the relation between T and AV. In general,
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

+
= A
T
T
R R
R
R R
R
E V
1 3 2
2
(3)
Assume R
1
=R
3
. Then,
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

+
= A
T
T
R R
R
R R
R
E V
1 2 1
2
(4)
Rearranging for R
T
,
( )
( )
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ A +
+ A
=
2 1 1
2 1 2
1
R R V ER
R R V ER
R R
T
(5)
The relation between T and R
T
is given by,
|
|
.
|

\
|
(

=
0
0
1 1
exp
T T
R R
T
| (6)
or,

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
0 0
ln
1 1 1
R
R
T T
T
|
(7)
Substituting for R
T
from Equation 5, we have
( )
( )
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ A +
+ A
+ =
2 1 1
2 1 2
0
1
0
ln
1 1 1
R R V ER
R R V ER
R
R
T T |
(8)
If we further assume R
1
=R
2
=R
3
=R
b
, we have,
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
A +
A
+ =
V E
V E
R
R
T T
b
2
2
ln
1 1 1
0 0
|
(9)
T is not a linear function of V, and so any linear analog recorder will be in error when
linear interpolation is used between calibration points (for small ranges in temperatures,
the error may be negligible). If we measure E along with our scans of the AVs, then the
only unknowns in Equation 9 are R
0
and |. These unknowns are determined by static
calibration experiment. You will perform a 3 or 4 point static calibration of both the
thermocouple and the thermistor.
Dynamic Response of Thermal Systems
When temperature measurements of a transient process are made, it is
important to verify that the dynamic response of the measuring device is fast enough to
accurately track the time varying temperature. In the second part of this experiment, we
will study the influence of different parameters on the transient response characteristics
of a thermal system. In this experiment, we will measure the response of thermocouple
(or a modified thermocouple). The thermocouple is modeled as a spherical ball, as
shown in Figure 4. The thermocouple temperature is, T, mass m and specific







Figure 4 Thermocouple bead modeled as a simple thermal system
heat capacity c. If the sphere is suddenly exposed to an environment at temperature T

,
then, after making the appropriate assumptions, the energy balance for this transient
process is given by:
t d
dT
mc T T hA =

) (
The solution for the above first order equation is the well known exponential decay given
as:
t ) / (
0
mc ha
e
T T
T T
=

where the time constant t =mc/hA. In this experiment, we will examine the influence of
properties such as mass, surface area and specific heat capacity of the bead on its
dynamic response.
2. Procedure:

1. Time response measurement.
Procedure:
a. Open the LabView program for temperature measurement (You should have
already downloaded the program before coming to the lab). Place the
thermocouple in the water bath (room temerature).
b. Start the labview program (dont forget to give an appropriate filename).
c. Wait for 10 seconds while the program is running.
d. Now, remove the thermocouple from the water bath and immediately transfer
it to the ice bath.
e. wait for about 20 seconds.
m, T
q
convection

T

f. Stop the labview program.
g. Open the file you saved and check if the data is saved correctly.The first
column is the time. The second column is the temperature.

a. From the data file you saved, determine the time constant of the
thermocouple using the following two methods.
i. Using the time history plot (time vs. temp.)
ii. Using the semi-log plot (refer to the handout/website for
details).